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You know there's a famous maxim from Lincoln that if he had two hours to cut down a tree he'd spend most of the time sharpening the ax. The best cure for a burn

You know there's a famous maxim from Lincoln that if he had two hours to cut down a tree he'd spend most of the time sharpening the ax. The best cure for a burn out is to sharpen your ax by taking time and figuring out what excites you. I'd advise you to see what non-programming things inspire you and then bring that passion back to your work. Also despite what everyone tells you having a personal life isn't a bad thing...

jagtesh 16y ago
The problem is, working with a startup has so far meant giving up my life - and just working 24x7. Not a healthy trend, but I don't know of a startup that works otherwise. I believe I'm not very comfortable telling my boss - "I can't do this". He's the founder and this is his dream after all. I feel I'm not doing my job if I don't finish my work - no matter how long it takes. Am I obsessing unnecessarily?
- ootachi 16y ago
  It's not only not a healthy trend, but it's a counterproductive one for you. You're at the stage in which working more is not going to help the startup, due to burnout, and the only sensible option is to work less.
- ayers 16y ago
  I would suggest picking up a sport(insert some form of physical activity). By working more hours you are not necessarily providing the startup with more productive hours. The longer the hours the more burnt out you will get. This will result in more mistakes (bugs), more time spent trying to solve problems etc.. Do not feel guilty for taking some time out for your own life. Not only will this help you, it will help the startup. It will give your brain time to reset and you should even see an improvement in time it takes you to do tasks. Even just taking time out of the office for a decent lunch break will help make your afternoons so much more productive. The number of times I have walked away from a problem to go for a walk (anything else but sitting at the desk staring at the problem), to come back to the problem and know exactly what is wrong.

jagtesh 16y ago

The problem is, working with a startup has so far meant giving up my life - and just working 24x7. Not a healthy trend, but I don't know of a startup that works otherwise. I believe I'm not very comfortable telling my boss - "I can't do this". He's the founder and this is his dream after all. I feel I'm not doing my job if I don't finish my work - no matter how long it takes. Am I obsessing unnecessarily?

ootachi 16y ago
It's not only not a healthy trend, but it's a counterproductive one for you. You're at the stage in which working more is not going to help the startup, due to burnout, and the only sensible option is to work less.
ayers 16y ago
I would suggest picking up a sport(insert some form of physical activity). By working more hours you are not necessarily providing the startup with more productive hours. The longer the hours the more burnt out you will get. This will result in more mistakes (bugs), more time spent trying to solve problems etc.. Do not feel guilty for taking some time out for your own life. Not only will this help you, it will help the startup. It will give your brain time to reset and you should even see an improvement in time it takes you to do tasks. Even just taking time out of the office for a decent lunch break will help make your afternoons so much more productive. The number of times I have walked away from a problem to go for a walk (anything else but sitting at the desk staring at the problem), to come back to the problem and know exactly what is wrong.